The excavation phase of the construction of the hotel is complete. Over 21,000 cubic metres of rock and soil have been removed from an area measuring 6,400 square metres (about one and a third football pitches) to accommodate the basement and lower ground floors. The excavation phase was slowed down by the three month absence of the Contractor’s (Shapoorji Pallonji Mid-East LLC (SPML)) expatriate staff due to the Ebola Epidemic and also because of the inherent difficulty of removing the very hard granite rock that is found on the site. The good news is that this granite formation will provide an excellent foundation for the 12-storey hotel!

Construction of Main Structure

Columns on Lower Ground of Tower Wing

The main structure of the hotel is being constructed in cast reinforced concrete on a 4-metre by 8-metre grid. The columns that will support the slabs of the upper ground floor on the Tower Wing have already been completed. The columns are appropriately designed to carry the huge structure above and are typically 400cm by 80 cm thick.

Custom designed Formwork for casting slabs

The construction of the columns and slabs will proceed rapidly because the rainy season is coming to an end and the formwork (the casings into which the concrete is poured) has been designed for the specific dimensions of the building

Crane at half height

To facilitate the speedy movement of materials around the site SPML have installed a huge crane. The crane is currently at half of its final height but even so it is now clearly visible from the surrounding areas.

Landscaping
The project team has already started planning for the extensive landscaping that will be required. In clearing the site for excavation care has been taken to preserve as many trees, shrubs and flowers as possible. Additional vegetation will be required so the SPML have contacted local horticulturists to find out what plants can be procured. In addition to this SPML are also looking for suitable sites to establish a nursery to establish plants that will be ready by the time construction is completed by the end of 2016.

Detailed Design
The Design Team continues to work on the detailed design of the hotel. The team is made up of 14 specialist companies working out of London and Dubai under the leadership of the project architects – Vertical Integration.

Six members of the Design Team consultants recently paid a visit to the site to review the work so far and discuss future plans with the contractors.

IDEA and Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)

In August 2014, IDEA released the Investments Director, Mrs. Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr to provide full-time support to the Ebola Response in the U.K. In November 2014, Yvonne was seconded to the UK-Med Quality Assurance Team deploying to Sierra Leone to provide quality assurance, advice and co-ordination to the Ebola Treatment Centers. In January 2015 Yvonne transitioned from the UK-Med Team to the Sierra Leone National Ebola Response Centre (NERC) when she was asked to serve as the Director of Planning. IDEA remains committed to Yvonne continuing to work at NERC until Sierra Leone is declared Ebola-free at which time Yvonne will resume her role as IDEA’s Investments Director.

Parliamentary Labour Committee on site

Working with our stakeholders
We continue to welcome many pre-arranged visitors to the site. The Parliamentary Labour Committee visited the site to see the progress of construction. The committee oversees the work of the Ministry of Labour, the government department with responsibility for NASSIT. The Committee was accompanied by senior officials from NASSIT. Other visitors include Mr. Paul McGrade, the Deputy British High Commissioner; Mr. Kelvin Lewis, Chairman of the Sierra Leone Association for Journalists.

Clearing of Seaweed on Lumley Beach

IDEA provided assistance to the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and the National Tourist Board to clear the layers of seaweed that had been washed on to Lumley Beach.

Looking Ahead

The programme over the rest of 2015 is the construction of up to seven floors (Basement, Lower Ground, Upper Ground, Mezzanine, First, Second and Third Floors) of the main structure. Completion of the hotel is still planned for the end of 2016.

Construction work at the new Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra hotel is going on in earnest as the contractors fight to beat the odds against them.
Coming in from constructing the massive Gambian House of Assembly Bhupinder Jit Singh the Project head of the Indian Construction firm Shapoorji Pallonji says “I am still not panicking” whilst also admitting that “this project is quite challenging.”

After the initial demolition works of the old structure, the turning of the sod for this massive ten storied 5 star hotel was done in 2011. The ceremony attracted the Hilton Vice President who on seeing the site and being awe struck by its beauty ordered a review of the design which saw a 20% increase in size. Obviously this meant more funds, and the Sierra Leoneans led project promoters IDEA UK had to go looking for more money to complete the project and re-negotiate the land lease with NASSIT. This process took another two years 2012 2013.

Eventually in 2014 the contractors moved in and Ebola had to cause them to put in the brakes. Project Head Bhupinder Jit Singh said the project is quite tasking because it is a 5 star hotel, which is one of the most difficult to construct except probably a hospital. His problem however is that some of the designers and consultants are not allowed to travel to Sierra Leone because of the Ebola threat. This makes life difficult for him, but still he is hopeful he will finish on time, which is late next year 2016.

Sierra Leonean born Wilben Short who represents IDEA UK took Awoko Biz on a conducted tour, showing the ‘T’ shaped structure and explaining how the whole construction is going on. Presently there is massive excavation going on to dig two floors down. This is why from the outside the work going on is not visible. Below the ground is hard granite rock, which has to be blasted to crack it.
Workers are now being trained on the form works for which specially made scaffolding has been brought in, along with specially cut and treated timber. Waterproof and anti rust painting is being employed. A separate lab has been set up to test the strength and quality of the concrete structures and other materials used. River sand is used in place of sea sand which has salt and which is known to affect the iron rods when used.

Work on the construction of the five-star, 200-room Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra Hotel continues at the Aberdeen site. In November 2014 the construction moved from the Mobilisation Phase to Excavation, the first stage of the actual hotel construction.

Computer generated image of the finished hotel

The Hotel

When completed Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra Hotel will be the largest and highest quality hotel in the country. It will be run by Hilton Worldwide under a management agreement with the hotel promoter, the IDEA Group. There is currently only one Hilton Hotel operational in the whole of the West African Sub-Region which is the Hilton in Abuja, Nigeria. A Hilton in Sierra Leone is therefore a big coup for the country.

The hotel has a basement, lower ground, upper ground floors containing the public and work areas and eight floors of accommodation. The detailed design work on the hotel is ongoing and involves 17 different design consultant disciplines all working under the Construction Partner, Shapoorji Pallonji Middle-East LLC (SPML). A physical mock up of the bathroom has been completed at SPML’s design offices in Dubai and will be moved to Freetown by the third quarter of this year.

Standard Bathroom Mock Up

Mobilisation

During the mobilization phase (SPML) brought in 25 forty-foot containers of machinery and equipment including a 50-metre tower crane, excavators, a passenger hoist for moving people and materials up and down the various floors of the hotel during construction, five container loads of scaffolding and several other items of building equipment. Some of the equipment has been shipped from Banjul where SPML have just completed the construction of the Gambia National Assembly.

Passenger Hoists on site

SPML have completed the construction of support facilities at the site include Site Offices, Workers Accommodation, Quality Laboratory, Health & Safety Offices, Emergency Clinic and toilet facilities for the site workers who at peak will number over 300.

Toilet Block, Quality Lab, Emergency Clinic

ExcavationThe excavation is to accommodate the basement and lower ground floors of the hotel. A Sierra Leonean Company, Groundworks Services, was contracted by SPML to undertake the excavation in two phases. At its deepest level, the excavation is over seven meters (approximately two storeys) below ground level.

Excavation in progress

The footprint of the excavation is the size of 187 tennis courts. Around 40% of site of the main hotel building site contains huge expanses of granite rock, In accordance with the projects Environmental Management Plan, the rock is being blasted using chemical blasting to minimise the impact of noise and vibration on the local community.

Drilling rocks in preparation for breaking

Local Content

SPML are cognizant of the Government of Sierra Leone’s Local Content Policy and have sub-contracted work to several Sierra Leonean contractors covering a range of trades including excavation services, plant hire, truck hire, rock blasting and surveying.

IDEA, Groundworks Services and EPA officers

A Job Fair was held at the Aberdeen Community Hall on the 19th of July of to publicise the employment opportunities available to suitably qualified residents in the surrounding community. The Fair was attended by over 200 people and was addressed by the SPML project Manager and the local Ward Councillor.

Participants at the Aberdeen Job Fair

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)

The EVD has caused some initial delays in the construction programme. However SPML is investigating how they can recover most if not all of the lost time. Both SPML and the IDEA Group have been actively engaged in supporting EVD sensitization and prevention activities especially with the local Aberdeen Community.

Staff receive Ebola sensitization talk

Site Visitors

A steady stream of stakeholders continue to visit the site. One such person was the new American Ambassador, His Excellency Mr John Hoover. Visitors to the site are welcome but only by appointment. As a construction site, visitors have to receive health and safety briefings and be attired with appropriate Personal Protective Equipment before they can go to the construction area.

U.S. Amb. John Hoover (2nd from right) visits site

Looking Ahead

With mobilization completed and excavation nearing completion the next phase of the construction will be the casting of the foundations which will start early in the New Year. The completion of the construction is scheduled for third quarter 2016.

]]>http://www.idea-uk.com/?feed=rss2&p=4411Senior FBN Bank Official Visits Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra Hotel Projecthttp://www.idea-uk.com/?p=409
http://www.idea-uk.com/?p=409#respondWed, 08 May 2013 12:06:06 +0000http://www.idea-uk.com/?p=409Mr Maxime Senecaut, a senior official of FBN Bank (UK) arrived in Freetown on Sunday 28th April for a short visit to the Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra Hotel project. FBN Bank (UK) and Afreximbank are the senior lenders to the project with FBN Bank (UK) being the principal lender during the construction phase of the project.

Maxime Senecaut (left) and Wilben Short at the Cape Sierra site

Mr Senecaut and the management of IDEA (SL), promoters of the project, met with key project stakeholders, including the Minister of Tourism & Cultural Affairs, the Chief of Staff in the President’s Office, and the General Manager of the National Tourist Board to update them on the developments to date. Mr Senecaut also visited the Cape Sierra site with Mr Wilben Short, Managing Director, and Ms Trudy Morgan, Programme Director of IDEA (SL) respectively.

IDEA (UK) and FBN Bank (UK) have been working together over the last few months to complete the funding of the project. They are now finalising arrangements to confirm the building contractor in order to resume work by end May/early June.

Mr Senecaut reported to the project stakeholders that Hilton Worldwide had sought to optimise the site potential by requiring a hotel design that was a significant improvement on the original. Mr Senecaut remarked that having now seen the stunning beauty of the Cape Sierra site himself, he more fully appreciates the thought process of Hilton Worldwide. The change in the design meant that the project costs increased from the original budget; however we have made excellent progress in filling the resulting funding gap.

Mr Senecaut said, “FBN Bank (UK) has worked with many developers and on many projects across West Africa. Having worked closely with IDEA (UK) and IDEA (SL), it is clear their competence and professionalism will ensure that this project will succeed. Together with our co-lender, Afreximbank, FBN Bank (UK) is committed to this project that will have a significant development impact on Sierra Leone.”

]]>http://www.idea-uk.com/?feed=rss2&p=4090Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra Hotel – Project Newsletter 3: Design of Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra Hotel Approved; Construction to start 2013http://www.idea-uk.com/?p=369
http://www.idea-uk.com/?p=369#commentsFri, 25 Jan 2013 15:02:02 +0000http://www.idea-uk.com/?p=369After months of detailed work the Scheme Design of the 200-key first class Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra Hotel has been signed off by Hilton Worldwide, making way for the commencement of construction. This is a very important step because under the agreement with Hilton, construction of the hotel cannot start until the formal approval of the design is obtained. The design is the culmination of months of detailed work by the Project Design Team consisting of IDEA (UK), 14 different design consultants, Hilton World- wide and Lagan the contractor. The challenge of the design was to fit the site and environment and also meet the demanding Hilton Brand Standards. The approved hotel is now bigger, more resilient and more efficient than when the design process started. Hilton is the most recognised hotel brand in the world and one of its hallmarks is the consistency of the quality it offers to its clients across the world. Hilton is determined that guests at the Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra Hotel will be no exception. The hotel will be capable of operating at a very high level of service even if the publicly supplied services such as water and power are interrupted.

The Site Layout

The hotel site covers a total of 10 acres, with the main hotel building perched on the crest of the site. The building has been designed in a T-shape and orientated on the site in a way that enables the guests to take the best advantage of the views towards Lumley Beach, the Atlantic Ocean and the hills of Freetown. Other buildings on the site include a Sewerage Treatment Plant to ensure that only treated water is discharged into the sea and a Desalination Plant to provide drinking water in the event of water shortages. The site also houses a Power Generation Facility with sufficient capacity to run the site for extended periods. With over 200 car parking spaces available on the site, there is ample car parking space for guests and visitors.

A jetty will be situated at the point where the site adjoins the top end of Lumley Beach. The jetty will provide the facility for guests to be transported directly to the hotel from Lungi. It will also be available for boat excursions to places of interest around the coastal regions. The landscape plan for the site has ensured that most of the mature trees have been kept and additional plants specially selected to complement the existing trees and maintain the flora and fauna that attracts beautiful birds, butterflies and other wildlife. The site contains numerous fine trees, many of which are large and mature specimens. They play an important role in defining the character and quality of the site, giving it a sense of calm and maturity as well as providing cooling shade. Because of the prominent nature of the site, many of the trees are also important in external views, notably those along the length of Lumley Beach, and the trees therefore have an additional role in contributing to the character of the wider area.

Guest Rooms

There are 123 Deluxe Rooms, two Disabled Rooms, 60 Executive Rooms, 11 Junior Suites, three Executive Suites and one Presidential Suite making a total of 200 keys. The smallest of these, the Deluxe Room, is 32 square metres in area and large enough to fit a queen size bed with bedside tables, coffee table, chairs and a wardrobe. The guest rooms are located from 1st to 7th floors. Each room is fitted with 4-piece bathrooms suite.

Leisure Facilities

A 30 metre long swimming pool is situated at the lower ground floor level and is surrounded on three sides by the lower ground floor terraced patios. The pool changing and shower facility is located on the patio at pool level and a pool bar is situated on an elevated terraced patio adjacent to the pool. There are extensive walking paths around the landscaped gardens and these also provide direct access to the beach and to the jetty for boat tours. Two tennis courts and a fully equipped ‘guest only’ gym complete the leisure facilities available for guests. The hotel shop is located on the ground floor and will stock items such as newspapers, stationery, toiletries, and also freshly baked bread and patisserie from the in-house bakery.

Business and Conferencing Facilities

The business centre and the executive lounge will be located on the Ground Floor just off the main lobby. The Executive Lounge will provide priority check-in facilities, 24-7 snack and meal service, business support and other bespoke servic- es for Hilton Executive Club Members. There are five meet- ing rooms and an Executive Board Room on the Mezzanine Floor accessed via a feature staircase off the guest lifts. The hotel will provide the most advanced function and conferencing facilities in the country. The 600-person capacity function room opens out into a terrace overlook- ing Lumley Beach and the Atlantic Ocean. The function and conferencing facility has its own dedicated entrance (separate from the hotel) although it can be easily accessed from the hotel. The function space can be split into two independent rooms at the same time.

Food and Drink

The hotel’s ambition is to be known by the local Freetown clientele and hotel guests as an authentic, quality destina- tion that provides a rich multicultural food and beverage experience throughout the day and evening. The hotel boasts five eating & drinking places, each with its own distinct menu and ambience and each provided with outside terrace seating.

Places to Eat and Drink

Lobby Lounge

An intimate setting with a small plates bar menu and a full range of soft drinks and signature cocktails. A la carte, small bites menu, short with simple classic dishes. Open all day.

All Day Dining

Offering international cuisine with rice dishes from around the world. Offers buffet service throughout the day with an additional a la carte menu for lunch and dinner.

Grill

The open kitchen featuring a charcoal grill and rotisserie is the centre of attraction.

Small bites menu with a few local specialties as well as an international gourmet style nibbles & sandwich menu.

Large selection of international and local (Star) beers.

Selection old and new world wines.

Wide range of wine by the glass for tastings.

Extensive selection of spirits with focus on whiskies and cognac.

Short and simple selection of classic cocktails easy to make with the addition of some flamed shot drinks.

Pool Bar & Grill

The Pool Bar & Grill is the hub of the outdoor hotel complex offering a cool and social atmosphere from morning through to night. Grilled seafood, fish, meat prepared in at the barbecue in view of the guests to add a friendly energy. pizzas, french fries & ice-cream with regular beers, wine & champagne, fruit juices and fruit cocktails.

Construction Cost

The changes to the specification and facility mix of the hotel have resulted in an increase in the overall construction cost. As such the development cost exceeded the amount initially raised by IDEA (UK), the hotel promoter. Contrary to popular opinion, the responsibility for financing the hotel rests entirely with IDEA (UK), not Hilton – who is only responsible for the management and operation of the com- pleted hotel. IDEA (UK) has therefore engaged with a number of international financial institutions and investors to raise the additional funds required to bridge the funding gap.

Construction Programme

The approval of the Scheme Design of the hotel now allows excavation for the building foundations and ground works to begin. It is therefore envisaged that construction will start with excavation of the site the New Year with the entire hotel construction expected to be completed in Q4 2014.

On Thursday 21st June 2012, Afreximbank was awarded Best ECA (Export Credit Agency) Africa at the 2011 Trade Finance Awards Dinner that was held at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel in London. Afreximbank’s financing of the Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra Hotel using its Contour Africa Facility was listed as one of a number of programmes and operational activities that contributed significantly towards the attainment of the bank’s trade and economic development mandate and to winning the award. The award was received by Dr. Okey Oramah, Executive Vice President of Afreximbank and Kofi Asumadu of Afreximbank. Keith and Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr of IDEA (UK) were present at the event and were delighted to see Afreximbank recognised for its role in financing the Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra Hotel.
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http://www.idea-uk.com/?feed=rss2&p=3240Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra Hotel – Project Newsletter Issue 2: Site Investigations and Surveys Completedhttp://www.idea-uk.com/?p=289
http://www.idea-uk.com/?p=289#respondWed, 13 Jun 2012 11:42:47 +0000http://www.idea-uk.com/?p=289 Design of the Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra Hotel Accelerates – The design of the 200-key first class Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra continues to make good progress with activities both on the ground at the Aberdeen site and also by the international design team in London

Site Investigations and Surveys Completed

Drilling Rig

One of the most important issues in building any structure is knowing what sits below the structure and the Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra is no exception. With the demolition of the old building completed, IDEA contracted Edward Davies Associates, a local engineering consultancy, to undertake the site investigations. This involved drilling through the soil and rock at specially determined positions to understand the nature of the terrain. The results of these investigations have been fed into the ground contour survey data to determine the best position and orientation of the hotel.

Water Tower

The old hotel may have been demolished, but one easily recognised and much loved part of the complex will remain. The Cape Sierra Water Tower can be seen from miles away in several directions and locals associate the unique tower design with Cape Sierra. In order to ensure that the tower meets the stringent standards of the new development, another Sierra Leonean Engineering company Techsult, was asked to undertake a structural survey of the tower. The tower was found to be excellent condition and so will be refurbished and maintained as a visible landmark in the new set-up.

Building an International First Class Hotel of the class of the Hilton Freetown Cape Sierra involves a lot more than meets the eye. A structured and complex design process is what lays the foundation for operational success. There are consultants from fourteen different disciplines whose designs have to seamlessly integrate. Most of the issues will never be visible to the guests when the hotel is in operation. This is why members of the international team of designing the hotel have been paying visits to Freetown and to the site over the last couple of months. Victor Rodrigues (Hilton Vice President – Architecture and Construction, Middle East & Africa) and Girish RamaChandran (Hilton Director – Development & Design, Middle East & Africa) paid a 48-hour visit to Freetown in early May. Victor is a 22-year Hilton veteran who is currently overseeing the development of over a hundred Hilton hotels. Victor, Girish, and Mark Saade of Vertical Integration (lead architect for the project), spent time familiarising themselves with the site now that the old building has been pulled down and the site has been cleared. They also visited other hotels in the area to understand the support infrastructure such as power, water and other services for the hotel. Armed with this information these experts were able to sit down with the IDEA team and decide on a number of features of the hotel such as the size and use of the leisure facilities. Kroll Consultants, an international firm of security experts, visited the site and met with a cross-section of senior representatives from the public and private sectors to better understand how to integrate security measures into the design of the hotel.

L-R David (Campbell Reith), Adama, and Adrian (LE Group)

They were followed by Campbell Reith (Lead Project Engineers) and Red Engineering who focused on assessing the quality and availability of local materials, skills and infrastructure support services. Campbell Reith also selected Adama Bangura from the LE Group, a local engineering firm, to spend time in their U.K offices as a graduate trainee under the project’s local content policy initiative. Matrix Partnership (Landscape Consultants) also visited the site to review landscape and environmental protection issues.

New Hotel Designs Revealed

Hotel Entrance

Following the consultants visits, the design team recently released the latest pictures of the proposed hotel. The current design has moved on significantly from the first concept that was displayed at the Turning of the Sod ceremony last year. The new layout is much more compact, in a T-shaped format and now comprising a lower ground, ground and seven floors of accommodation. Other features include an “infinity” swimming pool, a gym, several restaurants, a marina and state-of-the art conferencing facilities.

Next Steps

Hotel from Sea

With the site investigations and surveys now completed, the next stage of works on site will be the start of excavation and foundations works in June/July. Meanwhile, the London-based design team continues to progress the detailed design of all aspects of the hotel.